Two Australians on NBA’s dirty list

IT’S a fine line between dirty and scrappy and Australia’s Matthew Dellavedova appears to have crossed it. It’s not the only one, either.

IS HE dirty or is he just scrappy?

It’s a fine line and Matthew Dellavedova has crossed it, according to NBA coaches, assistants and players.

According to a Los Angeles Times poll, the Australian point guard is the dirtiest player in the league.

And it isn’t even close.

Twenty-four NBA figures participated in the poll, with some entering more than one vote. Dellavedova finished six clear on the top of the charts with 13 votes, ahead of Oklahoma City centre Steven Adams (seven votes).

Delly was joined by another Aussie in the top three, with Golden State Warriors big man Andrew Bogut polling five votes.

“Wow! Delly and Bogut are both from Australia,” an Eastern Conference player is quoted by the Times as saying.

“How about that! Delly is kind of dirty and he does cross the line. But I don’t even think it’s even close with Bogut. Dellavedova is a little bit wild and out of control.”

Memphis forward Matt Barnes (four votes) and Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka (two votes) rounded out the top five.

Andrew Bogut came in at No. 3 on the dirty list.

The “Dirty” Delly phenomenon began during last season’s playoffs, when he featured in a series of scraps. He rolled into the ankle of Atlanta’s Kyle Korver while diving for a loose ball. He later tangled with another Hawk, Al Horford, who retaliated and was ejected. There was another altercation with the Bulls’ Taj Gibson, who was also ejected after kicking out at Dellavedova.

“He’s as dirty as they come,” a Western Conference coach said in the Times report. “When you’re hurting people, that is not OK.”

“He was kind of dirty in the playoffs, for sure,” an East coach added. “He broke Kyle Korver’s leg. He held Taj Gibson with his legs and Al Horford’s legs and got them kicked out the games because they retaliated against him.”

Not everyone was slamming Delly, though, with the Victorian defended by an “old school” East assistant coach.

“He ain’t dirty. He just plays hard,” the assistant coach said.

“See, guys resent people that play hard because they don’t want to play hard. So if a guy plays hard, he’s dirty.

Another coach said Dellavedova was not intentionally dirty.

“It’s just like goofy,’” the coach said. “It’s not like John Stockton, where John Stockton was calculated. Dellavedova is accidentally dirty. He can’t help himself. He’s a quality backup point guard.”

Dellavedova drew attention with another questionable play over Christmas, with fans asking: Why is he always in these situations?

Why is he always in these situations? RT @KicksDeals: Is this a dirty play by Dellavedova? https://t.co/yyfHALnmIt

— Johnny Vulture (@FollowtheLee) December 26, 2015

Originally published as Two Australians on NBA’s dirty list